Where Old is New and New Looks Old; or, Macedonia, Part 1

June 10-14

When most Americans think of visiting Europe, they probably think of Western Europe: France, Spain, Germany. Maybe hit up Italy in the Mediterranean, or if they are the adventurous sort, venture over the eastern countries of the Czech Republic or Croatia.

But Macedonia?

I really don't know anyone who has visited Macedonia for vacation. And if we hadn't lived in GTMO, we probably would have never visited, either.

First, WHY Macedonia? 

our adventure took us from Vilseck to Nuremberg to Macedonia to Ohrid

In this little, tiny base of GTMO, we have managed in almost 4 years of gated living to meet people from all over the world. We celebrated last New Year's with friends from the U.S., Kyrgyzstan, and Macedonia, not realizing that our friend Ana and her family would be moving back to her home of Skopje in February. Her son and my youngest were great friends, and when they left, we always do that thing people who really like each other do: we said, "see you later!" and really hoped it would happen.

Our Macedonian friends' last day on island, with the kids saying their goodbyes 

Flash forward to this spring when started planning our trip to see another Anna living in Germany. Yes, this has been the summer of An(n)as. I asked my youngest what he wanted to do in Europe, and without missing a beat, he said, "I want to visit Ethan in Macedonia." At first I thought it would be difficult to travel there or be expensive. And I will be completely honest; like most Americans, all I knew about Macedonia is that it was part of that part of Europe we didn't visit during the Cold War, and it had something to do with Yugoslavia. (Okay, some of you know more than that because you probably didn't sleep through your high school football coach/history teacher reading out of a textbook to you during World History). 

Getting there

Ana suggested that we find tickets on Wizz air, which lead to several silly jokes about "taking a Wizz" and the such and also many bargains. Wizz is a small Hungarian airline that travels mostly in Eastern Europe. (In fact, this week our oldest son took a Wizz flight from Germany to Bulgaria). We bought round trip tickets from Nuremberg, which required son 2 and I to take a regional train from Vilseck to Nuremberg and go through customs to exit Germany because Macedonia is not part of the EU. However, US citizens are NOT required to obtain a visa to visit Macedonia as tourists, so we were able to enter the country with only our passports and no hassles.

The airline itself is VERY no-thrills. You literally pay for everything, even water. What do you expect for a €60 round trip ticket? Drinks and snacks were anywhere from US$1 and up. 

menu for Wizz airlines. Love the combo deals! 

The flight took about 2 hours, and then we landed in the capital of Skopje at the Alexander the Great Airport. As the plane landed, everyone burst out in cheers and applause. H and I were a little bewildered in the beginning because this was a first for either of us. Were the cheers because everyone was relieved the flight made it in one piece? Or, as I'd like to believe, were they cheering because they love their country that much and know there's no place like home? 

fuschia and purple, that's Wizz airlines! 

Either way, customs in Skopje was super-easy. We packed in a carry on so didn't have to deal with waiting for luggage. It took about 20 minutes from landing to walk out into the parking lot and meet our friends, who greeted us with big hugs. Happy, happy!

Macedonia today
A few facts to know about Macedonia.
First, the name "Macedonia" itself is controversial. The constitutional name is "the Republic of Macedonia," but the UN addresses it as "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." Greece also claims an area as Macedonia, and Greece regularly vetoes Macedonia's entrance into the EU because of the name Macedonia. It's complicated, but basically know this: many Macedonians want their country to be known as "Macedonia" or "the Republic of Macedonia" and are upset that Greece has claimed the Macedonian name. Right or wrong, a lot of blame for Macedonia not being in the EU is put on the shoulders of Greece.

Second, if you were a kid sleeping through history in the 1980s like I was, you probably vaguely remember Yugoslavia. Today, it is divided into the independent nations of Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, and Kosovo. You probably also recognize some of those names because of wars that occurred in those regions. Macedonia gained its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 without any bloodshed. They are very proud of this fact.

Third, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in Skopje in 1910. She would later be known world-wide as Mother Teresa. There are monuments, memorials, and even a highway named for her. 

Fourth, and more controversial is whether or not Alexander the Great was Macedonian. Macedonia claims him, but so does Greece. (Ah yes, Greece, again). Here is an interesting article in the LA Times about the issue. 
That being said, Macedonians don't hate Greeks and in fact, love to visit Greece. But they are very proud of their own long heritage and are offended that Greece seems to want to claim part of what they believe is uniquely theirs (as in their name and Alexander).  

Fifth and lastly, a devastating earthquake completely flattened most of Skopje and killed thousands of people in the early 1960s.

Why should you care? Because you have to understand all of this to understand why Skopje looks like it does today. And even knowing all of this will probably not completely prepare you for it. . . 

Skopje Today 

Thanks to the earthquake and to the cold war, communist era concrete architecture, there wasn't much of Skopje that was grand and beautiful and historic to give it a district architectural feel that many other capital cities across Europe have.

However, since 2010 or so, Skopje has reinvented itself with architectural structures meant to compare with what you would see in other major cities in Europe. And yes, including Greece.

There are large statues paying tribute to leaders in the arts, sciences, education. There are monuments to war leaders and even Alexander the Great. There are buildings with large columns and grand facades. Arches, bridges, you name it. And all to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.

The locals are very divided. Some see it as an improvement to the grey, concrete structures of the past and see it as a way to bring back nationalistic pride. Others see it as a waste of taxpayers money and call it things like "Disneyland Macedonia."

I took the above picture on the outskirts of town. I don't know if this is an apartment complex, office building, or what, but it's an example of the grey concrete buildings post-earthquake era. I actually like this style. The angles and shapes of windows, corners, doorways, and rooflines are all interesting. However, I can't imagine living in an entire city of grey concrete buildings, either.

THIS is what you find in downtown:

These aren't old buildings; they are brand new buildings (or fronts on old buildings) made to look like old buildings. And there aren't a few of them; there are DOZENS of them. Everywhere! 

A closer look at the fountain reveals this:

and this:

Paintball guns and spray cans of paint have been used to vandalize the new monuments. And this is all over the city.

There is a historical part of the city we missed---the Turkish  bazaar. I really wanted to visit it, but the kids really wanted to spend a day together at the pool more, and the reason we came to visit was for the kids to get together and not for me to drag them around shopping. (But it was tempting). This just gives me another thing to do next time we are there. 

What I learned: 
I found some of the city to be very beautiful and some of it, well, over-the-top. But I have no frame of reference of what it was. I also have no concept of what it is like to live in a country, with its economic and social systems, being taught that my way of government is the best way, and then to have complete upheaval and have all those systems and ways of life be turned upside down. How do you identify yourself if your country (Yugoslavia) is no more? And even though you are an old part of the world (especially compared to the U.S.---but hell, everything is old compared to the U.S.), you are in a new country. 

I spent much time thinking about identity and pride. Skopje does that to you. It gets under your skin and makes you realize that ostentatious buildings won't necessarily improve your country or create more jobs, but for many people, it gives them something new to associate with their new country and new identity. Some see it as erasing history, but others see it as simply a way to beautify what was once grey, and it is a way to showcase your national pride. And also it gives them a way to thumb their noses at Greece---and that does help morale, right? Is the price worth it? It's hard to know, and not being from there, I will never know. 

Buildings and architecture aside, this is Skopje to me: 

• it's children running around after dark in a very safe city
• it's people walking around in the city, eating in cafes, watching a soccer match on a big screen
• it's the joke that more people are there to watch the match because of their bets on the match rather than their love of soccer---it's the dark gallows humor that underlies most people's comments about their own city
• it's pride in a place that peacefully achieved independence, and it's protest in the form of paint guns, not real guns
• it's knowing that the UN and EU and Greece aside, we all know that this is the REAL Macedonia. 
• it's generations that still live together under one roof, and a banking system that just now allows people to take out long term home loans. This means a change to multi-generational living, but hopefully not a change to close-knit families.
• it's pride in land. You live on the land of your ancestors and cherish it. Thousands of families lost land to the government during the Cold War, so to still have old family land is to have something worth more than any money in the world. 
• it's pride in food. It's amazing pastries filled with meats or cheeses for breakfast, it's cheese. Dear god, the cheese. It's a tomato that would make my grandfather, a produce broker and connoisseur of tomatoes, cry. It's fresh ingredients grown locally and sold at a very, very reasonable price. 
• it's having everyone you meet welcome you to their country (and mean it)
• it's holding a baby porcupine---really!---that children found in a garden. Amazing! 

• 

  Baby porcupine!!!!! 

• it's beautiful people---tan and Mediterranean, pale and eastern European---and all religions together in one place. 
• it's a small city with a cosmopolitan feel
• it's people you have just met who treat you like their own family
• it's a country that reclaims its old with new

My most beautiful moment in Skopje was my last night in Macedonia, sitting under the stars on a swing in Ana's yard. Her father George, who doesn't speak much English, and I, who speaks NO Macedonian, managed to somehow have a conversation about the amazing drink he brews. He makes his own brandy called rakia.  George takes great pride and care in his rakia---he uses equipment that has been handed down through the family and uses locally grown fruit, including grapes from the vineyard next to Ana's house. He spends hours getting it right and has his own recipe that has taken years to modify and perfect. Her house sits on land that has been in the family for generations. Under the stars, sipping rakia and not saying much between us, I felt that sharing a drink was so much more than just sharing a drink---it was sharing the culture of land and pride and family and tradition. 

And that's what Macedonia meant to me. Go visit; you won't be sorry. 

looking into the old vineyard 

Next time---the UNESCO site of Ohrid. It's really old, too, not Skopje-old! ;) 

post script: as I was editing this this morning, I found out that there was a devastating flood in Skopje yesterday. Many people lost homes and property and some even lost their lives. Ana and her family are fine but many others didn't fare so well. Please think about the people in this beautiful city and hope they get a reprieve from the rain and flood waters. 

More reading (if you so wish---I would recommend):
Communist Architecture of Skopje, Macedonia---A Brutal, Modern, Cosmic Era: lots of pictures of the modern architecture post-earthquake that the new government has refaced/removed/renovated
Skopje's 'Colorful Revolution': Fighting Tyranny with Street Art: how some locals are fighting the new architecture---with paintball guns and spray paint
The makeover that's divided a nation: from BBC, explanation of both sides of the debate over Skopje's new look